Bahraini employment reaches 158,814 workers by end of the second quarter of 2018 Foreign workers employment was 600,857 workers by the end of the second quarter of 2018. Non-Bahraini employment decreased slightly by 0.9% annually compared to 606,357 workers in the same quarter of 2017. The decrease is a result to cleansing more than 13,000 domestic workers records during the second quarter of 2018. Bahraini employment reached 158,814 by the end of the second quarter increasing at an annual growth rate of 1.0% compared to 157,261 workers in the second quarter of last year. The number of new regular employment work permits issued by LMRA during the second quarter of this year was 39,566 showing an annual increase of 18.1%.The share of small organizations, employing less than 10 workers, of regular work permits was 50.5% of total work permits issued during the second quarter of 2018. The Median monthly wages for Bahrainis remained at BD 538 in Q2 of 2018. Median wage was BD 528 in the same quarter a year before showing an annual increase of 1.9% this quarter. LMRA issued 47,937 permits during the second quarter of 2018; of which 39,566 were regular work permits (including flexible employment permits), 1,061 for investors, and 7,310 for dependents. The total number of permits issued increased compared to 46,524 permits issued in the same quarter of 2017.
The total number of permits renewed by LMRA during the second quarter this year was 89,751 renewals of which 73,856 were for regular workers, 861 for investors, and 15,034 for dependents. The total number of renewals increased compared to 77,910 in the second quarter of 2017. The total number of termination transactions processed by LMRA based on employer request during this quarter was 32,621, of which 27,384 were for regular worker permits, 108 for investors, and 5,129 for dependents.
The economic sector with the highest number of new work permits for regular workers continued to be Construction sector with a share of 33.0% of total regular work permits issued, followed by Wholesale and retail trade sector with a share of 17.9%, then Accommodation and food service activities sector at 12.6%.
The number transfer transactions of foreign worker processed by LMRA during the second quarter was 18,063. The number includes local transfer of workers after termination or expiry of work permit even if they do not apply for intention to transfer in LMRA within 5 days from termination. The share of transfer transactions after termination or expiry of work permit was 65.1%. Transfer with consent of previous employer was 34.6% of total transfer transactions, and transfer without consent of previous employer nearly 0.4%.
The sector with the highest number of transfer transactions was Accommodation and food service activities followed by Wholesale and retail trade, then Manufacturing sector. Nearly 60% of transfer transactions in this quarter were made by small economic units, employing less than 10 workers.
The median wage of Bahraini employees this quarter remained at BD 538 compared to BD 528 in the second quarter of 2017 achieving an annual growth rate of 1.9%. The median wage of Bahraini workers in the private sector was BD 416 showing an annual growth of 2.2%, while the median wage of Bahraini workers in the public sector was BD 708 representing an annual growth rate of 2.5%. The labour cost gap between Bahraini and non-Bahraini workers in the target sectors (Construction, Trade, Hotels and Restaurants and small-scale Manufacturing) was BD 327 this quarter dropping by BD 13 compared to the second quarter of last year. Total employmentQ2/18759,671-0.5%Labour accounting - Employment- BahrainisQ2/18158,8141.0%Labour accounting - Employment- Non-BahrainisQ2/18600,857-0.9%Labour accounting - EmploymentNew work visasQ2/1839,56618.1%Foreign workersRenewalsQ2/1873,85614.0%Foreign workersTerminationsQ2/1827,3844.5%Foreign workersLocal TransferQ2/1818,06325.6%Foreign workersNew Domestic VisasQ2/189,6703.8%Domestic_WorkersRenewalsQ2/185,85214.0%Domestic_WorkersNew Bahraini EntranceQ2/181,363-14.0%Job creation- With ≤ BD 250 monthlyQ2/1827-54.2%Job creation with wagesNew enterprisesQ2/182,513-0.6%New enterprisesLabour cost gapQ2/18327 BD-13 BDLabour costMedian monthly wages (Bahrainis)Q2/18538 BD1.9%Median monthly wages (Bahrainis)- Public Sector Q2/18708 BD2.5%Median monthly wages (Bahrainis)- Private Sector Q2/18416 BD2.2%Median monthly wages (Bahrainis)Consumer Price Index (CPI)Q2/18132.32.7%Prices
All percentage growth rates or differences of levels shown in the dashboard represent the change from the same quarter a year before except for the indicators marked with *.
* represents percentage growth rates compared to previous quarter.
- means that comparable data are not available or the number is too small to report real change.
1. Includes all civilian employed persons in the private and public sectors (insured, uninsured and self-employed) and domestic workers. Starting from Q1 2010, LMRA is using data from LMRA Expat management System (EMS) to produce the total number of foreign worker employment in public and private sectors.
2. Excluding visas for domestic workers, investors and temporary workers.
3. Newly registered workers at GOSI.
4. Target sectors are limited to four branches of economic activity: Construction; Wholesale, retail trade and repairs; Hotels and restaurants; and Manufacturing (small scale).
The statistics on total employment and wages presented in the dashboard (with details in Tables A and B) are estimates prepared by LMRA Policy Directorate using data from different administrative sources, as well as national surveys and censuses.
These primary data are compiled together and then adjusted against each other in an orderly fashion based on labour accounting principles.
The resulting labour accounts are available to interested users upon request (
MI@lmra.gov.bh
).They provide harmonised quarterly data on employment and wages by sex, citizenship, sector of employment and major branch of economic activity (Construction and Trade).
a
It should be mentioned that the effect of adjusting data from different sources within the labour accounting framework has its limits. The adjustment process cannot eliminate all inconsistencies and inaccuracies that may exist in the original data. Therefore, some irregularities are likely to remain in the adjusted data, and it would be helpful if users of the data could alert us of these as they detect them (
Link to feedback
).
a. Data for each quarter represent the situation in the last month of the quarter.

Total employment by citizenship, sectorTable_A.pdf

By citizenship, sector (Male)Table_A1.pdf

By citizenship, sector (Female)Table_A2.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Construction)Table_A06.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Trade)Table_A07.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Finance)Table_A10.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Others)Table_A99.pdf

Average wages by citizenship, sectorTable_B.pdf

By citizenship, sector (Male)Table_B1.pdf

By citizenship, sector (Female)Table_B2.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Construction)Table_B06.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Trade)Table_B07.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Trade)Table_B10.pdf

By sex, citizenship (Others)Table_B99.pdf

By citizenshipTable_25.pdf

By citizenship, labour cost componentTable_26.pdf

By est. size, citizenship, economic activityTable_27.pdf

Low wage by sex, citizenshipTable_17.pdfTable_17.pdf

By sex, citizenshipTable_18.pdfTable_18.pdfTable_18.pdf

By educational attainment, monthly wage (Bahrainis)Table_19.pdf

By type of work visasTable_32.pdfTable_32.pdf

New visas, Renewals, Terminations by Permit TypeTable_33.pdf

New Visas by branch of economic activityTable_35a.pdf

New Visas by Size of EstablishmentTable_35b.pdf

Renewals by branch of economic activityTable_36a.pdf

Renewals by Size of EstablishmentTable_36b.pdf

Termination by branch of economic activityTable_37a.pdf

Termination by Size of EstablishmentTable_37b.pdf

Transfer Transactions by TypeTable_38.pdf

CR to CR Transfer of Employees by Type of transferTable_38a.pdf

New economic units by branch of economic activityTable_39.pdfTable_39.pdf